10 Health Problems That The Outdoors Can Help Prevent And Treat

Will more doctors in the future prescribe the outdoors to help prevent and treat health conditions? (Photo: Shutterstock)

If your doctor tells you to "take a hike," you may want to listen. With more and more scientific studies uncovering different health benefits from spending time outdoors, is the healthcare industry not fully appreciating ways of preventing and treating disease? During an October 20, 2016, White House Roundtable session entitled "Health Benefits of Time Outdoors," Michael Suk, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., Chairman of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Geisinger Health System and a member of the National Advisory Board at the National Park Service, mentioned the possibility of doctors writing prescriptions for national parks...as in, "Take a trip to a national park once a week and see me in six months." How many medication prescriptions could eventually be replaced by prescriptions for hiking, biking, climbing and other outdoors activities? Well, here are 10 health problems that time outdoors may help prevent or treat:

Obesity and obesity-related problems such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease: Unless someone is pulling you around in a wheelbarrow, being outdoors forces you to move your body more. Think about how much of your time indoors is spent remaining relatively motionless, such as sitting in front of a computer or in a meeting, texting on the toilet or staring at the Kardashians on television. Can you really do the same outdoors without feeling odd or being arrested? Being outdoors in many ways forces you to be more active. Trails make you hike. Hills and mountains make you climb them. Bigfoot makes you run. A number of studies have shown that access to the outdoors can significantly increase physical activity levels. For example, studies published in Preventive Medicine and the American Journal of Public Health found that children and adults living closer to public parks were more likely to exercise. The outdoors can also affect your diet. As I described for the Huffington Post, you are where you eat, meaning that your immediate environment governs what and when you eat. Being surrounded by candy bars and fast food may, guess what, make you eat those things. In fact, unplanned, unconscious eating is a big part of your diet, such as snacking on food while on a computer or watching television. Going outdoors can take you away from these temptations and force you to think more about what you are packing to eat.

Depression, anxiety, stress and other mental health issues: Plants (and not just the kind you smoke) as well as other aspects of nature can soothe your mind. The University of Queensland study also demonstrated how the 30 minutes of nature exposure per week reduced depression prevalence by up to 7%. Sunlight exposure can increase serotonin levels, which can then decrease the risk of seasonal affective disorder, a form of depression with the appropriate acronym SAD, that waxes and wanes with the seasons.

Osteoporosis and osteopenia: Yes, too much sunlight can be bad for you, but you are not a vampire. Instead, you are like a flower and need sunlight. Hiding inside and dodging rays of sunlight could lead to more brittle bones since sunlight helps the skin produce Vitamin D, which strengthens bones.

Nearsightedness: Could getting the masses outdoors reduce the need for glasses? In a study published in JAMA, schoolchildren in Guangzhou, China who had an additional 40-minute class of outdoor activities had a lower incidence of myopia (nearsightedness). This improvement could be due to exposure to the sun and more visual stimuli as well as taking children away from staring at computer, smartphone and video screens.

Asthma and other lung diseases: The outdoors offer fresher air...assuming that it isn't being polluted by industrial activity. Indoor air can be dirty, dirty, dirty, and not just with body odor and excessive farting, but with more serious pollutants such as mold, pollen, tobacco smoke, radon, carbon monoxide, asbestos, formaldehyde, dust, pet dander and lead. Building materials, air fresheners, cooking equipment, cleaning products, office equipment, pets, heating, air conditioning and many daily activities generate these pollutants. You know that smell from the printer every time you print something? Yeah, that's not good to inhale, especially if you have asthma.

Pain and Injuries: Yes, without the proper precautions, outdoor activities can lead to more pain and injuries. However, when used appropriately, the outdoors can serve as a massive physical therapy clinic, allowing you to exercise and strengthen different muscles and joints.

Addiction: People can be addicted to a lot of things, ranging from (more commonly) alcohol, pain relievers and the Real Housewives television series to (more rarely) drinking urine and snorting baby powder. Spending time outdoors can take you away from things facilitating the addiction, such as friends who encourage or exhibit the same behavior; stress from work, school or social situations; advertising; or the stashes of baby powder that you keep in your house. Outdoor activities can also help fill the void that your addiction is currently filling, such as boredom and loneliness. For these reasons, some addiction programs include outdoor activities.

There are additional examples beyond these ten and future studies could unearth even more benefits. In fact, perhaps the trend of Americans spending more and more time indoors may be contributing to some degree to growing health and public health problems (such as obesity and mental health issues). Of course, simply getting people outside won't replace all other medical treatment and necessarily solve medical problems on its own, but it could help. While outdoors medicine (treating injuries and health problems caused by outdoor activities) is an already established field, using the outdoors as medicine is still comparatively nascent. You may think that some diseases are outside of your control, when, in fact, the outsides may actually help you better control them.